


A Shift in Recovery

by FestiveFerret



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A Lot of Hurt/Comfot, Cabins in Canada, Capwolf, Did I mention hurt/comfort?, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), Iron Man 1, M/M, Post-Afghanistan Tony, Recovery, Shifters, Wilderness, hiding out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 12:39:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18739210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: After Afghanistan, Tony goes to his cabin in the woods of northern Canada to recover. While walking in the woods one day, he finds an injured wolf.





	A Shift in Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my bday prompts for anon who wanted capwolf. Also for willidothefandango who loves capwolf and deserves all the nice things in the world!
> 
> Thanks to ashes0909 for beta <3

Tony clutched his hot mug to his chest and breathed in the scent of coffee, pine needles, and brisk fall air. The ache of the night was fading quicker and quicker each morning. Huh. Rhodey had been right after all. This was helping. A little.

The woods exploded with bird noises as the sun came up, and Tony tossed his feet up over the arm of his adirondack chair and let his eyes fall shut. A year still felt too long, but knowing that there wasn't a fast approaching deadline, that SI was running just fine without him - and even if it weren't, he'd have no way of knowing - was a deep, weighty relief, like a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. 

When the sun was fully risen and the birds' screaming had slightly softened, Tony pulled on his hiking boots and set off into the woods. Sunbeams cut through the pine needles and dappled on the soft trail as he walked a regular path around the many-acre property. The woods gave quickly to a large, grassy field, and the hot sun melted the ice frozen to Tony's spine. By the end of the field, the back of his neck was sweating and stepping back under the trees was a cool relief. 

As far as routine went, there wasn't much else to do out here, and tinkering in the cabin's rough workshop couldn't be his all-day, every-day. "Nothing changes," he mused, more than a little bored by it all. 

A mournful, pained cry echoed through the trees and Tony jumped to the side, hand out in a repulsor defense stance for an armour he wasn't wearing.

"I was kidding! Kidding! Back to boring please!" Tony waited, heart pounding, but the cry didn't come again. He took another step, continuing on his path but a soft grunt caught his ear this time, and he couldn't ignore it. "Please be two harmless woodland creatures having an intimate rendezvous," he hissed.  _ "Please." _

Tony followed the noise, stepping off the path and crunching through a heavy layer of pine needles. He hadn't gone far when he saw something at the base of a tree - a pile of soggy-looking fur.

He inched forward, deeply aware of the sorts of things that might lurk in deep woods like these, but the pile of fur didn't move. It wasn't breathing. Tony rounded the tree and smacked a hand over his mouth. God… it was a  _ wolf.  _ As far as he knew, there weren't supposed to be wolves in this area. And wolves usually travelled in packs…

Tony bent over it, one ear staying fixed on the woods around him. It was dead, completely still, it's eyes open and glassy and its tongue lolling out. What Tony had thought was wet fur was bloody fur, dark and sticky all over its side. 

"Poor thing," he mused. He couldn't help reaching out and running his fingers lightly through the clean fur of its flank. It was beautiful.

Then it moved. 

Tony yelped and jerked back, but the wolf didn't seem to notice his presence. Its chest heaved in a damp, painful sounding breath, which it let out with a low whine and then it stilled again. 

"Shit." Tony bit his knuckle, eyes racking over the unchanging woods around them. It was alone, and hurt - dying probably - could he bear to leave it to die alone? "Fuck. I don't know what to do. This isn't in the boy scout manual." He scrubbed rough hands through his hair. "I mean, maybe it is, I was never a boy scout. I have no idea." He stood and looked down at the sad lump of wolf. "Shit. I shouldn't move you, right? Let nature take its course…" He stepped back and the wolf wheezed again, finishing with a pained little pant. "Okay, fuck, no, even I can't be that heartless." Tony snorted humourlessly. "Here's the deal. I have to go get something to carry you with. If you don't want me to bring you back to my cabin and do a horribly shoddy job of palliative care, then I recommend dying while I'm gone."

The wolf failed to respond.

Tony ran back to the trail, marking the edge with an arrow of pinecones so he could find the wolf again even if it had fallen silent. At the cabin, he quickly jerry rigged some repulsor pads on the bottom of a dolly and activated them. He jogged back through the field, sun hot on the back of his neck, and found his way to the wolf again. It was still alive, taking the same slow, agonized breaths with a terrifying amount of time between them.

Tony lined up the patched together stretcher next to the wolf and lowered it down as close as he could get it. "Okay, don't bite me, alright? I'm too old to be in Twilight." He snorted and the wolf's paw twitched. The wolf was enormous, several times bigger than the largest dog Tony had ever seen in the city, and it must have weighed over two hundred pounds. He had to shift it bit by bit, and it cried the whole time, its mouth falling open in a stressy pant as he pushed and pulled, apologizing every time he touched it.

Finally, Tony had the beast up on the stretcher and he was able to activate the repulsors. The wolf fell silent on the walk back to the cabin, and Tony started planning where he was going to dig a grave for it. It was beautiful. Now that he had it in the sun, it caught the deep browns and greys in its fur, a brilliant white under its chin. It was a shame to see it die - and what on earth was out here that could kill a wolf? And such a large one at that. 

Back at the cabin, Tony cleared a spot on the front porch that was well lit and would stay lit until the early afternoon, and lay out a stack of towels. He eased the whimpering wolf off the stretcher and onto the towels, managing to flip it over on its other side and suddenly its injury was clear. 

It'd been shot. And not with a bullet. 

A dart was embedded deep in its shoulder, thick and heavy, and all the fur around it was stained with blood. 

"Okay," Tony said, "I'm not exactly gifted at first aid, but we had a class at the offices once that I sat in on so I'm going to do my best." There was a very large first aid kit at the cabin and Tony dug it out. He had an emergency satellite phone as well, but no internet, and a hurt wolf didn't seem like reason enough to call in a helicopter, though he was tempted. 

Thankfully, inside the kit was a book, and while it didn't list details specific to a wolf that had been shot with a dart, he could cobble together a treatment plan.

He smeared some tepid water on the wolf's dry, cracked nose, and when it opened its mouth and lolled its tongue out, he poured a little on there too. It lapped once, then again, and Tony was able to get almost a whole mug of water into it. 

Next, he checked the wolf all over to make sure the dart was the only injury. There were a few more small cuts and scrapes, but nothing serious or life threatening - as far as he could tell. He also discovered that the wolf was male. 

"Where are your packmates?" he muttered to himself as he worked.

Finally, there was nothing to be done but to take the dart out. Tony wrapped a towel around the base of it, pressed down hard, then tugged. The dart didn't want to come out, and he had to pull harder, twisting a little. He felt it rip through skin and muscle and the wolf started to struggle as it cried out. 

"Wait, wait!" But the wolf wouldn't be stilled. His legs pinwheeled, and Tony gave a final twist and tug as the wolf teetered up and curled around itself, panting heavily. 

"Sorry…" Tony sat back, worried about being attacked, but he ached to reach out and touch the stressed-out creature in comfort. After a tense moment where Tony wasn't sure if the wolf was going to try and stand or not, it finally slumped back down on the towels with a plaintive whine, sounding far too much like a pet dog. Tony stroked it once, pleased that it didn't react, then peeled its fur aside to examine the wound. 

The dart had a nasty, corkscrew end, though the hole it left wasn't huge, and it had started bleeding again, and Tony had to press towels over it until his arms were aching to get it to stop. He didn't feel safe or comfortable doing stitches, so he settled for spraying the wound liberally with an antibacterial and analgesic spray and crossing his fingers.

The wolf seemed more comfortable almost instantly, his breathing settling out and his eyes slipping shut. Tony leaned back against one of the porch pillars and watched the wolf sleep. "Where the fuck did you come from?" he muttered. 

Tony checked on the wolf throughout the day, sitting nearby with his book and offering him water whenever his eyes blinked open. He kept expecting to find he'd passed, but the wolf's sides still slipped up and down and he didn't refuse water any time Tony offered it. 

When night fell, Tony couldn't bare to leave him, so he tugged the cushions off the couch and spread them out on the porch a few feet away. He wrapped himself in as many blankets as he could find and watched the slow, steady breathing of the wolf as he drifted off. 

Tony didn't sleep for long, jolting awake every hour or so. Once, he jerked out of the cold grip of a nightmare to find the wolf's eyes open and fixed on him. They were bright and intelligent, more lucid than they'd been before. "Hey," Tony murmured. "Just a nightmare, sorry."

The wolf considered him.

"Hmm. You might live, huh? How about this - if you make it til morning, I'll name you. And then you have to live because you know how that goes. I'll be heartbroken if I name you and you decide to die." The wolf let out a huffy sigh, and Tony snorted. "Okay, deal. Night."

Tony managed another hour or so of sleep, spread out over several, and when he sat up and stretched, the wolf was awake and watching him again. They listened to the birds together.

"So I guess you've decided to stick around, huh?" Tony peeled back the towels and looked at the wolf's wound. It looked much, much better already. "Wow. Good job. Uhh… so I guess you need a name. Fido? Spot? Rover?" The wolf sneezed. "No, huh? What about…" Tony looked around the cabin. "Sprocket? No? Balto?" When the wolf didn't immediately reject it, Tony nodded. "Balto. We can watch your namesake later, if you want. You know, if it weren't utterly insane for me to bring a wild animal into my house."

But more and more, Tony wondered if Balto had come from someone's home, kept as a pet. It didn't make sense for a wolf to be here, first of all, and he was far too comfortable around Tony to be fully wild. Either that, or he was so dopey from his injury that he didn't have the energy to lash out, and Tony was suddenly going to lose a hand when he came back to himself.

Tony made coffee and eggs and brought an extra plate out for Balto, piled with plain scrambled eggs. The wolf half sat up and sniffed the plate then licked his way through the eggs, drinking deeply from the bowl Tony had set beside it after. 

"Good boy." Tony grinned at him and the wolf looked back, tipping its heat in curiosity. "You were definitely someone's pet, weren't you? That's horrible. Don't worry, I won't keep you here. It's up to you when you leave. Hey! Maybe this will be one of those touching animal stories where you come back every year and like, I don't know, bring your babies here to show me or something."

The wolf coughed and went back to licking his plate. Tony picked at his own eggs then dumped the remainder on Balto's plate for him to finish which he devoured enthusiastically. "Shit, you're going to eat me out of house and home, aren't you? I only get deliveries once a week, bud."

The wolf snorted then shifted as if he was trying to stand. 

"Whoa - are you ready for that?" Tony held his hands out, hovering nearby. But the wolf heaved up to its feet, wobbled for a moment, then slumped down again. "Guess not."

It ended up being two days before the wolf stood up for any length of time. Tony checked his wounds a few times a day, and it seemed to be healing astonishingly well, as much as he'd be able to tell. On the third day, the wolf stood and walked to the end of the porch and back, and Tony started going for his morning walks again. 

On the fifth day, he put down breakfast for Balto and set off down the steps, only to have the wolf shift up to his feet and follow him.

"Oh? Are you coming this morning?"

The wolf huffed in reply, and set off with a steady limp, a few feet behind Tony as he wandered through the woods. It was both nerve wracking and comforting to have the wolf with him. He kept waiting for the wolf to just leave, but it followed him out to the field then stopped. Tony stopped too. He looked back as the wolf sunk down to lie on the pine needles, eyes fixed on Tony. 

"You done? Alright." Tony finished his walk, cutting it a bit shorter than usual, and when he rounded back across the field, he could see Balto lying in the same spot he'd left him, bright eyes watching Tony's every step. When Tony reached him, he stood shakily, barely putting any weight on his bad leg, and limped back to the cabin.

Tony made them ham sandwiches for lunch. 

Balto stood and stretched with a soft whine then slumped against the side of the cabin after he'd finished eating.

"I feel ya, buddy." Tony rubbed a hand over his chest. "I'm healing too. Yeah, I know it doesn't look like it, but this little… retreat is to puzzle piece myself back together after a fairly shitty vacation to a cave in a desert. Don't book third party, that's all I'm saying."

Balto snorted again, and Tony grinned.

"I like you. You appreciate how hilarious I am." Tony looked over at the wolf who - for some reason - was still here. "You trust me, don't you? Huh. Weird. Well I'm glad you feel safe, I guess. And I'm glad you didn't die. Maybe someday you can tell me who shot you."

They sat in silence for a long time.

"Maybe you were betrayed… I know what that's like."

By the end of the week, Balto could make it all the way to the other side of the field and back and his limp had diminished enough that he could trot for a few steps. Tony still expected the wolf to be gone each morning when he woke up, but instead Balto graduated to just inside the cabin door, to the living room rug, and finally up on the couch. 

Tony only touched him when necessary, to check his wounds, but Balto walked close beside him on their morning stolls and there was something intensely powerful in having a two hundred pound wolf padding along at his side. 

Balto was doing well enough now that Tony figured he could spend some time in his workshop again. The cabin workshop was different from the one in Malibu. It was simpler, more rustic, and Tony used it as a chance to get back to his roots. There was no JARVIS, no bots to help, and no pressure from a company that needed his genius brain constantly breaking horizons. 

Tony grabbed a toaster he'd brought to fix and started poking at it. He sunk into the simple ease of his task, rewiring the inner workings. Something about the connection wasn't quite right, but he plugged it in to see if anything sparked. Sure enough, it did. A jolt of electricity hit Tony's finger, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to be felt, and he shot off his stool, pedaling backwards with his feet until he hit the wall under the work table.

There were cables in his chest, heavy cables that shocked and sparked every time he moved. He could hear running water.  Fuck, they were going to dunk him again. He clutched his hands to his chest but he couldn't find his battery - couldn't find it - and if they hauled him to his feet without it in his arms, the pain - it would hang heavy from his chest, threaten to rip the magnet right out - and he'd - he'd -

Soft fur brushed against Tony's hand, and he sucked in a startled breath, eyes snapping open. But it was too blurry to see anything, and Tony reached out wildly. His hand closed on a handful of stiff, bristly fur that was soft and thick underneath. A heavy weight spread out across his lap and something cool and wet jammed up under his ear. Steady breath against his neck had him mimicking the rhythm unconsciously, and after a moment, he was breathing normally again. Tony blinked away wetness to find Balto completely wrapped around him, his chest across Tony's lap, nose tucked up against his neck, and the line of his back curving around Tony's side. 

Tony had never touched him this much, never felt like he had the right to, but now he let his hands wander, digging deep past Balto's thick overcoat to find the downy fluff underneath. Tony took another slow, steady breath and the wolf shifted back a bit and started to lick roughly at Tony's cheeks, cleaning up tears he didn't know he'd shed. 

"Thanks," he muttered. He'd never come out of a panic attack so quickly. Tony tipped forward and braved burrowing his entire face in Balto's fur. It was warm and safe, twined up together on the floor, and after a while, Tony risked falling asleep. 

He pushed up a little, and Balto stood, staying close enough that they touched, even when Tony staggered away. His muscles were sore from being tensed, and he was dehydrated and shaky. He unplugged the toaster with a glove and dropped the cord on the table. He turned and walked out of the workshop, Balto pressed tight against his side. 

Tony flopped out flat on the couch and Balto sunk down on the floor beside him, his head resting heavily on Tony's stomach. Tony stroked him gently. "Okay. Okay. So… that was a thing. I have a little… uh. Thing. Where I was tortured. For a bit. With a thing. In my chest. I -" Tony petted his fingers carefully around Balto's injured shoulder. He'd mostly healed, but there was still a patch of thin fur and a sore spot. "Left its mark in more way than one, I guess. Sorry. Thanks for the, uh, bail out."

Balto huffed out a sigh and sunk the full weight of his head on Tony's stomach. 

After that, they did everything together. Balto didn't like Tony being in the workshop and stood on guard the whole time, growling lowly whenever Tony flinched or swore. Tony avoided anything involving electricity.

Balto joined Tony for his morning walk every day, and Tony switched up their route, sensing Balto's tension when they walked through the woods near where he'd been found. 

At night, Balto moved to the floor in Tony's room, the heaviness of his breathing a comforting white noise. 

Tony rolled over and sighed, coming out of yet another nightmare - Obie holding him underwater, just pushing deeper, and deeper, and deeper. "Balto…?" he croaked, and a second later, the bed dipped and a massive blanket of fur draped over him. "Thanks…" He dipped back into sleep and didn't wake until morning.

Tony blinked into wakefulness to find his blanket snoring heavily, sprawled across him, one paw digging painfully into Tony's side. Tony laughed and squirmed around until he could see Balto. He stroked two fingers along the length of his muzzle. It was still bizaare to him that somehow he'd befriended a wolf. No one would believe it back home - he'd barely thought about home for days now, honestly. It was like living in a Disney movie. 

But for some reason Balto had decided to stay, at least for now, and Tony's little recovery retreat shifted from boring and necessary to fun and necessary. Balto refused to play fetch, and the look he gave Tony when he tried was deeply unimpressed, but they hiked and explored, and Balto enjoyed pulling on things so Tony managed to teach him how to grab a rope and tug things around in the workshop. 

Tony added a ton of meat to his regular grocery delivery, and Balto hid under the bed every time he heard the  _ chugchug _ of the drone's rotors. At first, Tony had been regretful that he set up the groceries to be delivered automatically, but it got easier and easier as time went on to appreciate the lack of human contact. 

Balto now slept in Tony's bed every night, sprawled out, half on top of Tony and half tucked around him. Tony informed him that good dogs slept curled at the foot of the bed, but he couldn't complain when he fell asleep wrapped in warm fur every night and his nightmares all but disappeared.

Tony scraped his knife over the shapely piece of wood he was holding and winced when it cracked. "Dammit. Why aren't I better at this? I'm wearing a flannel for fucks sake, I thought it would just kick in. I was going to catch a fish later, but now I'm starting to think it's a fool's errand."

Balto snored softly, one foot twitching in the dirt. Tony set his failed attempt at whitling down and slumped deeper into the hammock. "Hey Balto." The wolf didn't move. "Balto. Balto. Hey, Balto. Hey." Tony stretched out and poked the wolf with one foot. He snored louder. "Baaaalto."

Balto's snoring cut off and he cracked an eye.

"Hey. Entertain me." Tony poked him with his foot again. Balto huffed, stood, stretched, then lay down again. "Oh my god, useless." Tony started tapping his foot against Balto's head in a salsa beat. "I'm bored."

Balto rumbled a low growl and waved one paw over his head, trying to bat Tony away. Tony chuckled and started poking his nose instead. 

"Balto, Balto, Bal-to-to-to- AHH!" The wolf reared up, snapping to his feet and launched himself at Tony. Tony scrambled to grab the edges of the hammock, but it was too late. Balto landed right in the middle of the hammock, on top of Tony, making it spin all the way around, depositing them both in the dirt. Balto rolled them over twice before he pinned Tony to the ground with both paws heavy on Tony's chest. 

"Okay! Okay! Uncle, uncle," Tony cried, batting at the wolf. "Can't breathe -"

Balto hopped down and then bent to lick all over Tony's face, his tongue sneaking into Tony's mouth. Tony spat and smacked wildly at him, trying to get away. "Gah - dog breath."

Balto huffed, almost amused seeming, then stepped off Tony, turned around three times and dropped into the dirt, their sides pressed close together. Tony wound a hand into the thick ruff at Balto's neck and let his eyes close. 

"I think - Sometimes, I think maybe I can't go back. And sometimes I think I have to go back." His fingers tightened and Balto shifted, his head coming to rest on Tony's chest, over the arc reactor. "Don't think I can have a wolf in Malibu, though. What are you going to do? Think you can pull off malamute? Maybe I just have to stay here forever."

Balto sighed as if in agreement, and his eyes slipped closed again.

The next week went by in lazy companionship. Balto was glued to Tony's side and though he showed no signs of injury anymore, he also showed no signs of leaving. It was rare that the wolf wasn't close enough that Tony could twine his fingers through his fur, and Tony alternated between worry about the future, and giving himself over completely to the calm of the present.

Then, one morning, he woke up cold, alone. "Balto?" He sat up and blinked around the room. It was early, but the birds were already singing. Balto wasn't on the floor, and the door had been nudged open. Tony slipped out of bed and into his shoes. He wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and shuffled outside. It was colder than it had been, early fall marching on towards winter, and the birds' calls sounded muffled and far away. Tony shuffled out uneasily. Something wasn't right.

"Balto?" Tony stepped out on the path, his heart clenching. What if the wolf had finally decided to leave? It was all for the best, surely, but Tony wasn't sure he could take it. The path broke into the field and Tony let out a breath of relief. Balto was out in the middle of the field, jumping around, chasing a butterfly, his jaws snapping audibly as he popped up and tried to get it in his jaws. Tony laughed and watched the wolf prance about.

Balto did a twisting jump and noticed Tony on the landing. He powered across the field and crashed into him, bringing both of them to the ground, his goofy doggy butt wiggling in the air. "You are such a  _ dog,"  _ Tony teased, and Balto growled. "Are too." 

Balto leapt to his feet and dropped his front paws, growling deeper. 

"I'm not going to wrestle with you, you maniac. You've got like fifty pounds and about three million teeth on me. I will, however, make you eggs for breakfast and then we can go for our walk."

Tony snuck some smoked salmon into Balto's breakfast, then got changed and they set off into the woods. Balto was full of sillies, darting around and snarling at nothing, then bouncing in Tony's direction before running away. Tony rolled his eyes and laughed, trying to entice Balto into fetch again and failing entirely. It was a beautiful, sunny day, unseasonably warm, and as they crossed the field on the way back, Tony turned his face up to the sun and basked.

Something wrapped tightly around Tony's ankle and jerked him to the ground with a sharp cry. Tony hit the tightly packed dirt hard enough to knock his breath free and he groaned in the grass for a moment, sucking air into spasming lungs. 

When he could breathe again, he sat up to find Balto pawing at something on the ground. Tony tried to move, but his leg was stuck straight and glued to the ground. Balto was pawing at the end of whatever Tony was trapped in. He shifted around until he could see it. It was like an electric bear trap, lying flat then snapping up to catch anything that stepped in it. It wrapped around Tony's leg with an electrified mesh that gave the impression of being designed to catch any creature instead of just one species. 

"Fuck." Tony tugged and Balto whined and growled, low in his throat. The way the mesh kept his leg extended and held close to the ground, Tony couldn't spin around enough to get access to the base of the machine and figure out how to disarm it. 

And why the  _ fuck  _ was there a trap in his field? He owned this property, owned hundreds of acres beyond it too. So what was - it beeped.

And then Balto tensed, hackles rising into a terrifying ridge. He was growling, eyes fixed somewhere over Tony's shoulder.

Tony hardly dared to look, but he couldn't resist. He twisted around and followed Balto's line of sight. Out of the trees, poured three soldiers dressed in full tac gear, guns up and raised. 

"Who the fuck are you?" Tony yelled, deciding an offense was his only defense, considering.

A bullet zinged past his head, and Tony dropped flat, heart in his throat. If he'd had any hope that they'd be apologetic that they'd caught a human in their trap, it was instantly dashed. Balto jumped over him and braced on all four feet, facing down the advancing soldiers. Tony peered up through the grass and watched as Balto snapped and growled. 

The soldiers seemed unwilling to shoot at the wolf, but one of them had a dart gun. These were the people who had shot Balto in the first place. 

"Hey, you fuckers! Get off my property!" Tony struggled with the trap again, but he was held tight. 

Balto looked back and forth between Tony and the soldiers then seemed to decide something. He braced himself, turned, and charged at the three men. 

"Balto!" Tony struggled again but the only thing that threatened to break was his leg. Frustration welled up so intensely inside him that Tony growled too, kicking at the trap with his free leg.

The soldier with the dart gun fired, but Balto dodged it deftly and flung himself at the man. They went down in a tumble and when the wolf reappeared, his jaws were frothing with blood. He turned on the second man who had a baton that seemed electrified. He prodded it at Balto who took the shock with a roar, shook it off, and charged. 

The first man wasn't moving but the third avoided the flailing wolf completely and hustled across the grass towards Tony. 

Tony shouted and threw a rock which fell pointlessly short of his target, but it caught Balto's attention. He dropped the arm of the man he was wrestling with and leapt between Tony and the advancing soldier, hackles high, growl rumbling so loud Tony could feel it reverberating in his chest. 

They fought, and every time the soldier got free of Balto's jaws, he aimed his gun at Tony. Finally, seemingly frustrated, Balto twisted around, grabbed the man by the leg and pulled, smashing him down to the ground. He groaned and struggled to push up.

Balto ran over to Tony again and poked at the trap with his nose. "Go!" Tony shouted. "Just get out of here. I can't get out of this shit I - holy _ fuck -" _

With a twisted cry, Balto surged up, and Tony watched in horror as he shifted, legs turning into arms, fur disappearing, until he was a man, tall and buff and beautiful, and hunched over with pain. A partially-closed wound on his shoulder burst open again as the man changed, and blood poured down his bare chest. 

The man - Balto? - stumbled over to Tony and wiped a blood covered hand over his brow, smearing it across his pale skin. He grabbed the cable of the trap in both hands and pulled, snapping it easily in half, leaving the end sparking. The trap immediately gave, relaxing into useless mesh which Tony could easily shake off. "Tony, you have to go," the man said.

Tony just stared at him.

"Tony. Run. Back to the cabin - Go!" The man hauled him up and shoved at him, and Tony staggered back a few steps. 

"But -"

"Tony,  _ run!"  _ he shouted, then he turned and threw himself across the open field towards the second soldier who was standing again.

Tony staggered to his feet, jolting towards the man who used to be his wolf, but a rustle drew his attention back to the soldier Balto had brought down nearby. He was lurching up, eye fixed on Tony. Tony charged. 

Every lesson Happy had given him evaporated from his mind, and Tony attacked with no finesse and the rage of a man whose life had been ripped apart one too many times. He collided with the soldier and they tumbled to the ground together, a mess of flailing arms and legs. Tony didn't even feel the pain of the man's hits colliding, he struck over and over, growling and cursing.

The man got a good smack in, and Tony reared back, dizzy, and his eyes cut to the broken electro-cuff that was still sparking in the grass. "Okay, fucker," he growled. He ducked another jab then rolled, letting the man get on top of him. He took enough hits that his attacker thought he had the upper hand, then Tony tucked his feet up under him, braced himself and kicked violently out to the side. 

He rolled out of the way as fast as he could and covered his eyes as the man started to scream and was quickly cut off, landing on the broken cord and taking the full shock it could deliver straight to his back.

Tony pushed to his feet and didn't look back, making a beeline for the Hercules that he was fairly certain had been sleeping beside him for several weeks now. The man's fists were bloodied and he could barely stand, stumbling when his foot hit a root. There was no sign of the other two soldiers and Tony didn't look for them. 

Tony staggered over and gripped the man around the waist, lifting him to his feet and helping him walk back to the cabin. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, knuckles white around a handful of Tony's shirt, and let himself be led. Tony kicked the door open and lowered him onto the couch then rose to grab first aid supplies, but the man caught him around the wrist and held him lightly.

"Don't go." His voice was rough and crackly.

"I was just going to clean you up, get some gauze and stuff…"

"It's okay. It'll heal quickly. It's all superficial. I'll rinse the blood off in a minute, when I can stand and you'll see it's not that bad. Shifting while injured always bleeds a lot, but it's not dangerous."

And there it was. "Shifting…" Tony wasn't sure what else to say.

The man's eyes fluttered open, and Tony rocked back, eventually sitting down on the edge of the coffee table, their knees nearly touching. The man's fingers dropped away from his wrist. "Yes," he said softly. "I'm a wolf shifter. My name is Steve Rogers -"

"Oh my god. You're Captain America."

"What?"

"You're Captain America, aren't you? You look just like him."

"You -" the man - Steve - spluttered. "You know that name?"

"Of course. Every American kid knows that name."

Steve's brow furrowed. "Aren't we in Canada?"

"Well, yeah... But I'm American. Pretty sure the Canadian kids know you too. You're famous."

"Right... of course." Steve coughed, looking fairly startled. He wiped his hand over his brow and Tony realized all at once that he was still naked. 

"Let me get you some clothes."

"Thank you."

Tony rummaged around in his room, trying to find something that would fit, but the only thing he had was a pair of sweatpants that would likely still be a few inches short. He brought them out, but Steve was gone and the shower was running. Tony tucked the sweatpants just inside the bathroom door then went out onto the porch to wait.

Was it really possible that this man was the wolf that Tony had been caring for for the last several weeks? And the famous war hero no less, who had died over sixty years ago? It was difficult to get his head around, but it wouldn't be the weirdest thing Tony had ever seen, not by a long shot. After a few minutes, the screen door creaked open and then Steve settled on the porch step, a careful foot between him and Tony. 

"I'm sorry," Steve started with.

"For what?" Tony blinked at him. 

"For pretending to be a real wolf. You didn't know, all this time, that I was human. You trusted me, and I betrayed that trust."

Tony rolled that around in his mind for a minute. "Why didn't you change?"

"I - Do you want to hear the whole story? I understand if you don't. I can just thank you for your hospitality and leave, leave you out of this."

"Fuck, no. I need to know or I'll die of curiosity. If you really are the wolf i've been hanging out with for six weeks, then you know that already."

Steve chuckled. "Okay, okay. So, yes, I am Captain America. I - They told me that name had been forgotten… I don't know what you know about me but I crashed a plane into the ocean in 1945."

"I knew that."

"You probably didn't know I was a wolf?"

"Uh, no."

"The serum that made me super strong, super fast, it also made me half-man, half-beast. I can shift between the two at will. I'm faster and stronger as a wolf, but heal better as a human. I - I thought I'd died, but I woke up, thawed. I shifted just as the plane went down and I guess my wolf form saved me. But the people that found me… HYDRA. They're the people I died to stop, but I guess it didn't work. They have a lab, a few hundred miles from here. They found me, they thawed me, and they brought me there for experimentation. They - " Steve cut himself off and his eyes dropped to where his hands were twisted in his lap. 

Tony thought about all the times he'd reached out and twisted his fingers through Balto's fur, and he couldn't resist now, reaching out and wrapping his hand around Steve's instead. Steve stilled for a moment then opened his palms, catching Tony's hand between his and lacing their fingers together. 

"They tried to find the key to the serum, tortured me, experimented on me, forced me to shift, back and forth, back and forth. But the key died with Erskine. I - I suspect he was a wolf too… I think that was the trick, the extra element - his DNA - but I didn't tell them that. Anyway, I escaped. They caught me with a dart on the way out. It was drugged, to stop me from shifting. My original plan had been to run to the nearest town and shift, find help, but I couldn't get help as a wolf, so I just… ran.

"I ran for - I don't even know how long, and when I was too weak and too tired and too hurt, I just… lay down. The world thought I was dead anyway. Better to die an ancient memory than be used to fuel their fascist agenda." Steve took a deep breath in then turned his bright blue eyes on Tony. "Then you found me."

"I pulled the dart out, though, and you still didn't change."

A flush of pink bloomed on Steve's cheeks. "Ah, no. Sorry. I guess - Well, I knew if I was going to shift, I'd have to leave. I didn't want to scare you. But the longer I stayed, and the kinder you were… well, the harder it was to go. I had a lot of healing I needed to do before I could go back and face down HYDRA, and you provided me a safe place to do that. I can never repay you…"

Tony squeezed their hands together. "You don't have to. I got a lot out of it, too." He cleared his throat. "Nice to have company. Though, I'm pretty sure I dropped my PIN code there at some point, so don't like, clear me out."

Steve barked out a laugh but then his expression turned serious, he leaned in close enough that Tony's breath stopped. "Your secrets are safe with me."

"And yours are with me," Tony told him honestly. "You can hide here as long as you want."

"Thank you." There was a storm brewing behind Steve's expression, but Tony chose to ignore it.

"I'm not sure I believe you're Captain America, though" Tony said loftily, and Steve turned to him wide-eyed. "I caught you chasing a butterfly his morning. Also I'm pretty sure you chewed on one of the oven mitts."

Steve laughed again, and the sound warmed Tony's belly. "I was a wolf for a long time. It kind of…" he winked at Tony, "settles in."

"That explains how often you felt the need to tackle me."

Steve's cheeks flushed and he rocked a little back and forth. "Well."

Tony quirked an eyebrow at him.

He coughed. "Might have wanted to do that anyway…"

Tony clapped his free hand to his chest. "I'm shocked. Appalled. You saw me naked, Mr. America, more than once." He was laughing now, and Steve was too, his pale skin a pretty pink. Somehow it was easy with Steve. It really did feel like they'd known each other all this time. 

When they'd calmed again, Tony patted him on the knee. "Come on. We need to eat something." Tony stood, but he stumbled a little as his ankle gave out and he reached out to catch himself on the porch railing, but Steve was there first. He wrapped an arm around Tony's waist.

"Shit, you're hurt. I forgot. I'm sorry."

"I'm okay. It's not sore."

But Steve scooped him up and carried him inside, settling him down on Tony's favourite armchair. He knelt in front of him and pushed up the hem of Tony's pants. Cool fingers circled Tony's ankle and prodded gently. Tony didn't feel pain, all he felt was the electricity of Steve's touch. 

"You should ice that," Steve said softly, fingers lingering.

"Okay." Tony didn't move.

"You sure you're okay?"

Tony nodded. "I mean, my pet dog just turned into He-Man, but I'll deal."

Steve's brow furrowed and his lip curled. "Pet dog?" he asked, unimpressed, and his expression was so similar to Balto's when Tony tried to get him to chase a ball, that Tony burst out laughing. 

"Never mind, there he is." Tony grinned until Steve smiled too and shook his head. But after a moment, Steve's smile faded into a frown and his eyes dropped to the floor. Silence dragged on a beat too long. 

"Tony -" Steve started to say, right when Tony finally broke and said, "Steve -"

Steve and took a hesitant step back. "I have to go," and the words dug into Tony's gut and lodged there. He stood too. 

"Stay."

"I can't, Tony, I have to stop HYDRA. They're never going to give up searching for me. Now that I'm strong again - all thanks to you - I have to bring the fight to them."

"I'll go with you," Tony said desperately. 

"No… no." Steve's hand twitched towards Tony, and Tony grabbed it and clutched it to his chest. All the warmth and affection he felt for Balto was spilling over onto Steve so easily. It didn't make sense, but he couldn't stop. "Tony, you can't. I can't put you in danger."

"Danger is my middle name."

Steve chuckled and dropped his eyes to their joined hands. "Thank you. Thank you for everything."

"I can fight. I can - I can build something."

"This isn't your fight, Tony," Steve said firmly. "I - there is something you can do for me, though…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. 

"Anything."

"Give - uh - Give me something to fight my way back to?" Steve's voice was barely a whisper. Somehow they were standing closer, almost chest-to-chest, and at Steve's words, Tony leaned in even further.

"Yes. Always. I'll be here. I'll leave the light on for you."

"Thank you." Steve reached up and cupped Tony's cheek with one hand then leaned in and pressed his lips to Tony's forehead. "You saved my life."

"Pretty sure you saved mine, too," Tony murmured into Steve's chest. They held each other. 

When they finally managed to part, Tony pulled the repulsor pads off the bottom of the stretcher he'd used for Balto's body and fashioned them into rough cuffs. He filled a backpack with food, water bottles, and medical supplies, and Steve met him by the door.

"Sure you don't want to stay one night? Recoup?"

Steve reached out to fiddle with the collar of Tony's shirt, and Tony realized that for weeks now, he and Steve - as Balto - had always been within touching distance of each other. And now he was going away. 

"I wish I could. But I can't. Every minute that I'm here, this cabin is in danger. They'll come for me. Fast. They won't be expecting me to fight back. I have to go now. I'll never forgive myself if I bring them to your doorstep."

Steve stepped back and tensed, but Tony held out a hand, stilling him. "Wait." He took a step close again. "Didn't you say you needed something to come back to?"

Steve smiled sadly and nodded. Tony sidled up until they were pressed close and took hold of Steve's face with both hands. He pulled him down into a soft, warm kiss, gentle and full of promise without pushing things too deep. They parted, barely a hairsbreadth, and hung there. Steve opened his mouth to speak, but instead he shook his head roughly and stepped back. "Goodbye, Tony." He shifted, his human form melting down to the ground, fur springing out, until Balto stood there. He shook all over.

Tony grabbed the backpack and knelt in front of Balto. He helped him into the backpack then snapped a repulsor cuff around each of his ankles. He could fire them as weapons or even use all four at once to jump long distances. Tony wished desperately that he had more to offer. "Go kick ass, Balto," he whispered, then he wrapped his arms around the wolf's neck and burrowed his face into soft fur.

Steve turned and nuzzled into Tony's neck for a moment then shook himself again, took a step back, then took off, running full speed into the woods. 

Tony crumpled down on the porch and gripped the railing. He wasn't coming back. He was going to disappear, and Tony would never know if he'd died, been recaptured, or had just decided Tony wasn't worth coming back to. 

Every night, Tony turned the porch light on and left the door unlocked, just in case, but as the weeks wore on, he became more and more sure he was never going to see Steve again, and it ached, a hole gaping right behind the arc reactor. More than once, he started packing a bag to go after him, but he had no idea where Steve was, and he had no JARVIS. Plans for a suit of armour, a new Iron Man, shinier, stronger, precise rolled through his mind. But he had nothing here in Middle-of-Nowhere Canada to build it with, and what if he went back home to get it and Steve came back to an empty cabin? And how would he even find the HYDRA base?

Every morning, Tony woke from the horrible, pressing ache of nightmares, alone, cold and heartbroken, and wished to his bones that today would be the day Steve returned.

But he didn't.

The days dragged on, and Tony lost hope, but he still left the light on every night. He flipped the switch and took one last look out through the press of trees. He piled blankets on the bed, snuggled down among them and closed his eyes.

A soft dream curled around Tony and he tried to swim up towards wakefulness, but he couldn't. Everything was too floaty, too easy. And he was warm - so warm - hot -

"Huh?" Tony blinked awake, struggling to find oxygen in the tight press of rough fur. "Oh my god." Tony rolled onto his side and buried himself into Balto. "Oh my god, you came back."

Fur melted away to warm, bare skin and two strong arms slipped around Tony and pulled him close, until their bodies were twined together. Tony's eyes were hot and his heart felt too big for his chest.  _ "Steve."  _

"Oh, Tony," Steve breathed, and his voice made it real. He was really here, really home. "Thank you for leaving the light on," he laughed wetly and pulled Tony impossibly closer. He buried his face in Tony's hair and breathed in deeply.

Tony laughed too and pressed a kiss to the side of Steve's neck. "How'd it go?"

"Fine. Good." Steve's voice was tight. "I did what I needed to do."

Tony pulled back until he could see Steve's face. "And then you came home."

Steve nodded. "And then I came home."

As Tony pressed their lips together, he was starting to think that he might take the full year sabbatical after all.


End file.
